The government and the Liberal Democratic Party decided Monday to seek an extension of up to 85 days for the current Diet session to accommodate a supplementary budget for fiscal 1999 as well as other legislation to finance industrial competitiveness measures.
The extended session, planned to run through early September, will allow the LDP leadership race to take place in late September as originally scheduled, government officials said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said the government hopes to have the extra budget, focusing mainly on job-creation measures, deliberated first in the extended session.